Wedge type of container and cover



WEDGE TYPE OF CONTAINER AND COVER Filed March 17, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Y INVENTOR. Z05 E6121. 3. T'UPPER April 23, 1957 E. s. TUPP ER WEDGE TYPE OF CONTAINER AND COVER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 17, 1955 INVENTOR. E4121. .5. TUPPEE fie; M

April 23, 1957 E. s. TUPPER 2,789,603

WEDGE TYPE OF CONTAINER AND COVER Filed Mamh 17, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Emu. s. TUPPEE INVENTOR.

Z MAN 2,789,603 WEDGE TYPE OF CONTAINER AND COVER Earl S. Topper, Upton, Mass. Application March 17, 1955, Serial No. 494,878 Claims. (Cl. 150--.5)

This invention relates generally to a container and seal or cover formed of a thermoplastic type of material of various shapes, the container and cover being adapted to be in frictional and hermetical engagement.

The invention embodies and further proposes a distinct improvement over the invention set forth in applicants prior U. S. Patent 2,487,400 dated November 8, 1949 by the formation of a container and seal having peripheral engaging elements having various geometric shapes including straight portions, curves or combinations, the curves being of varied radii.

The primary object of the invention resides in the provision of a container and cover of a predetermined geometric shape as described wherein the cooperating hermetical sealing elements are maintained in position when either the top central wall of the cover or the side walls ofthe container are subjected to external pressure elements.

v A further feature of the invention resides in the provision of a container and a hermetically sealing cover therefor wherein means are provided for easy removability of the cover from the container in a peeling type of operation.

A further feature of the invention resides in the provision of a container and cover of thermoplastic material including polyethylene, treated styrenes, vinyls or derivatives of said materials or other substances having similar physical characteristics, such characteristics including local distortability and capacity to withstand and yield to shock without breakage or fracture and including resiliency.

The material forming the containing and cover have characteristics which contribute to the performance of the device. Such characteristics in addition to those herein enumerated are non-absorbability of gases and liquids, and inertness to chemical change. The material is not readily wettable by water, odorless, resistant to acids, alkalis, solvents and other chemicals at ordinary temperatures. The cover and container further may be easily and readily washed for reusability under sanitary conditions. The material does not soften far below the boiling point of water, is resistant to mildews, micro-organisms and insects and absorbs blows and shocks by ready yieldability. Furthermore, the package is capable of a degree of distortion to enable easy conformation to storage space either in a refrigerator for freezing purposes or in a lunch box or the like. The device is capable of limited expansion and contraction in capacity for variations of temperature and pressure.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a container and cover of the above characteristics which is strong, durable, resistant to wear, tear, shocks of handling, storage and impact and is also capable of reusability under sanitary conditions.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a container and cover of the above characteristics wherein autensil such as a fork is removably mounted within the cover on the interior and which is sealed within the container and cover until employed for consuming the Patented Apr. 23, 1957 contents, the fork being formed preferably of the same material as the container and cover and is reusable with the container and cover.

These objects and other incidental ends and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear in the progress of the disclosure and as pointed out in the appended claims.

Accompanying this specification are drawings showin preferred forms of the invention wherein: i Figure l is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention and showing in phantom the manner of initiating removal of the cover from the container; Figure 2 is a perspective view thereof after the cover has been removed from the container portion;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the invention taken along the plane 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a detail of Figure 3 in section showing the cover in the process of removal from the container;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention showing the cover removed from thecontainer and illustrating a fork removably mounted within the cover;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view taken along the plane 6-6 of Figure 5 and showing the fork being inserteddownwardly between the cooperating retaining members formed on the underside of the cover member;

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion'of the cover and container member along the plane 7--7 of Figure l and showing the effect of pressure application along the straight side wall portion of the container member as respects maintenance of sealability.

Figure 8 is a sectional view similar to Figure 7 showing the effect of downward pressure on the central wall of the cover member as respects maintenance of scalability.

Figure 9 is a view showing the structure of Figure '7 illustrating initial removal of the cover by imposition of pressure on the underside of the flange member of the cover;

Figure 10 is a view in perspective of another form of the invention wherein the engaging elements consist of tangentially connected curves of varying radii;

Figure 11 is a sectional view of Figure 10 along the plane lit-11 thereof.

In accordance with the invention and the preferred form shown in Figures 1-9, a type of storage container and cover is provided of irregular geometric shape, but as shown is in the form of a wedge adaptable to receive and store pie slices, cheeses or the like. The container has a frictionally engaging type of cover adapted to seal the contents within the container and the engagement is similar to that shown in applicants U. S. Patent Number 2,487,400 dated November 8, 1949 as above stated, the improve ment thereover being in the use of straight and curved or curved portions alone and of different radii in connection with the shapes of the engaging elements.v

Thus, the container is generally indicated by letter A and the cover therefor by letter B. Container A is comprised of a bottom wall Ill substantially of triangular shape, said wall 10 including a pair of straight and converging edges 19a and 10b tangentially joined at the rounded corner the. The other edge of bottom wall 11 joining straight edges 10:: and 10b is curved and of a predetermined radius and is indicated by numeral 11, said curved edge 11 at the ends thereof meeting straight edges 18a and 18b tangentially at curved portions 11a and 1112 respectively.

Bottom wall 10 of the container along the undersurface is integrally formed with a peripheral ridge 12, said ridge serving to securely support the bottom wall of container A in freely spaced relationship to the supporting surface and to prevent the adhesion thereto when moist. The

straight edges a and 10b of the bottom wall 10 are integrally formed with converging side walls 13a and 13b which meet tangentially at a curved wall portion 14 conforminggto the radius of curved corner 100 of the bottom wall. Curved edge 11 is integrally formedwith the curved side wall portion 15-conforming .in radius therewith and joins the adjacent ends of said straight side walls along, the rounded-or curved wall portions 16a, and 16b,. the latter conforming in radius with the corners 11a and 11b respectively.

, For purposes of rigidifying the engagement of the peripheral engaging edge *portion. of container 'A with the cover member, said .engaging edge portion is preferably peripherally and outwardly flared as atportions 17a, 17b, 18,. 19, 20a. and 20b. Said portions determine the geometric shape of'the engagement with tthe cover and are of predetermined lengths, curvatures and radii.

Container A as adapted to receive therewithin in freely spaced relationship any suitable contents such as wedgeshaped pie slice C as shown in Figure 2 and the manufacturer of the contents may do the initial packaging and seal the contents in hermetically as will hereinafter appear. Of course the contents may include industrial, commercial and other type of product requiring hermetical type sealing.

It is 'to be noted that container A is locally deformable to pressure, but is sufiiciently rigid to be normally self shape-retaining. This is accomplished by employing a material as heretofore described such as polyethylene or other substance having similar physical characteristics.

Cover member B is made of the same material as container A and is of comparable gauge and cooperates with the flared peripheral portions 17a, 17b, 18, 19, 20a and 20b of the container which contributes to the shape-retaining characteristics ofthe combination. Thus, cover B is provided with a substantially triangular central wall 21 similar in size and shape to the bottom wall 10 of the container and includes a pair of straight converging edges 21a and 21b and a base curved edge 210, the said straight and curved edges joining each other at curved elements. The shape of the perimeter of wall 21 corresponds to the perimeter 17a, 17b, 18, 19, 20a and 20b of the 'flared edge-of container A. On the undersurface of wall 21 andat the perimeter is a ridge 22 of triangular cross section to reinforce the cover member for resisting easy deformation and to maintain the shape thereof.

The peripheral edge of central wall 21 is integrally formed with an inverted, raised and continuous peripheral groovegenerally indicated by numeral 23 (Figures 1-9) for frictional, hermetical and removable sealing engagement with the open edge portion of the side walls of container A, said groove being formed with an outwardly disposed flange for adding rigidity to said groove and for enabling expeditious removal of the cover member from the container in a peeling-off type of operation as will hereinafter appear.

7 2S iattthe intersection of said straight diverging portions,

a curved portion 29 of relatively'largeradius and corner curved portions 30a and 30b at the intersections respectively of the said straight portions 23a and 23b with the curved portion 29.

:It is to be observed that cover member B is made of the same material as container A and isof comparable gauge, theidistortionzthereoflbeing controlled :and arrested phyithexreinforcing effect of'i'theperipheral groove structure, the 'beadAZZFQn'the .underface ofzcover wall'21. serv- 4. i g as n ex ension of. roo e inner wall 24., and the flange 27.

Thus, container edge portions 17a, 17b, 18, 19, 20a and 20b (flared or unfiared) are engageable within the correspondingly shaped groove portions of groove 23. Straight portions 17a and 17b of the container edge are frictionally and hermetically. engageable within the straight peripheral groove portions 21a and 21b of the cover, the curved portion 19 of the container edge is engageable within the curved groove portion 29 of the cover, the rounded corner container portions 18, 20a and 20b are engageable within the rounded corner groove portions 28, 30a and 3011 respectively of the cover.

Outer groove wall 25 toward the bottom preferably is reinforced by a thickening as at 31 to impart not only greater rigidity to the cover B but also to resist flexing or curling along wall 25 during initiation of removal of the cover member by grasping the underside of flange 27 as will hereinafter appear.

The lateral dimensions of theperipheral container edge portions 17a, 17b, 18, 19, 20a and 20b with respect to the intersecting axes of the shape formed thereby exceeds the inner lateral dimensions of the corresponding outer groove wall portions 23a, 23b, 28, 29, 30a and 30b so that a live seal is normally efiected at'least between portions of said corresponding and engaging surfaces as shown in Figure 3.

The invention lays particular stress on structure responsible for maintaining hermetical sealing engagement between the straight portions of the engaging groove elements 23a and 23b of the cover and the container straight edge portion 17a and 17b. Such portions are normally less rigid and more easily susceptible to deformation by imposition of internal and external pressure-elementsthan are the curved elements. The curved elements are rendered more rigid during formation, the rigidity of such elements being directly proportional 'to the radius of the curvature.

Thus, as shown .in Figure "7, when pressure is imposed inwardly by accident, intent or storage space available again-st straight wall 13a, .the engageable :parts assume a position different from the normal position as shown in phantom. It is to be observed 'that the lower portion of groove inner wall 24 including bead '22 is forced inwardly, the central wall 21 is caused to buckle and the container edge portion 17a is forced Iinwardly against the inner face of inner groove 'wall 24 thereby developing a live and hermetic seal during this condition of'said pressure against wall 13a.

On the other'hand and as shown in-Figure 8, when such pressure is imposed on central-wall 21, the sealably engaging parts change in normal position from .the 3P0- sition shown in phantom to that shown in solid lines. Thus, when central wall .21 is depressed, inner wall '24 at the lower portion is forced outwardly about top wall 26 while container edge portion 17a at the inner face is also displaced outwardly in abutmentwith the inner face of groove inner wall'24 underlive pressure, thereby resulting in maintenance of hermetical sealing.

Of course it is .to be noted-in both Figures '7 and 8 that the top edge of container edge portion 1741 continues to maintain sealing engagement with the inner face .of the groove top wall 26. Moreoven'bead' 22 at the base of groove inner wall 24'serves'as an'extension and reinforcement thereof whereby wall 24 serves as a strong abutment area for the-inner face of container edge portion'17a.

As shown in Figures wand :11, where the engaging peripheral container edge portions 37 'and,38land 39 are formed of tangentially connected curvatures 'of :varying and small radii to form the container .A, and coverB is provided with .a geometri ally simi ar y shaped n ripheral gr ve :23 havi sflang zzfl, er pningaadiseal: ing action ,is maintained to Ea --gre at,er degree of stability as against extraneous-forces against gthe side or top walls of container and cover as compared with imposition of such forces as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. This is due to the greater rigidity of curved areas as against straight areas as has been heretofore mentioned.

To apply cover B on container A, it is merely necessary to align the cover corner groove 28 over the corner wall portion 18 of the container and then by progressive and simultaneous downward pressure on the groove top wall 26 along portions 23a, 23b and 29 by both hands, seal-tight engagement takes place peripherally. For re moval, the flange 27 is grasped at the under portion by the thumb while another finger rests upon the top wall 26 at the corner portion 28. In this fashion, the groove 18 widened by virtue of the leverage of outer wall 25 and flange 27 about the top wall 26 of the groove whereby displacement of the groove portion takes place as shown in Figure 9. Thereafter the cover is removed by a peeling-off type of operation.

By the structure described, the gauge of both the container A and the cover B or container A and covering B" may be relatively thin by virtue of the rigidifying structural elements theretofore described. Although it is preferable for the cover member to be made of the same material as the container member nevertheless either one may be made of more rigid material than the other so long as either the container or the cover elements have deformable parts at the engaging area.

In Figures 5 and 6 there is shown a modified form of the invention when serving as a pie slice container and difier's from the form shown in Figures 1-4 in that cover member B has a central wall 21b integrally formed on the undersurface thereof with a pair of laterally spaced depending cars 32 and 33 provided on their inner and opposing faces with cooperating grooves 34 (Figure 6). A fork generally indicated by numeral 35 is provided and is preferably of the same material as container A and cover B, and includes an elongated handle 36 adapted to be snapped downwardly into the grooves 34 whereby to retain the fork against the cover when the latter is in position on the container. Handle 36 at the same time is easily removable by being snapped out of said grooves 34. It is to be noted that the fork 35 will be sealed within the container and cover along with pie slice C until it is desired to consume the latter. Thus, both the pie slice or other edible and fork are maintained in sanitary condition.

Although several shapes of containers and covers have been described, it is distinctly understood that other shapes come within the spirit of the invention, and that for increase of stability and resistance against external forces which have a tendency to break the herme'tical sealing especially along straight portions, it is desirable to reduce the longitudinal dimensions of such straight portions and to eliminate altogether corners lacking curvatures.

I wish it understood that minor changes and variations in the material, gauge, combination, shape, integration and form of molding of parts may all be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A container and hermetically scalable and removable cover therefor, said container including at least a pair of adjacent and curved peripheral rim portions tangentially continuous and of dissimilar curvature, said cover having a main top wall and a peripheral, raised and inverted groove having a geometrically similar shape to the container peripheral rim portions, said groove having inner, outer and top connecting walls, the outer wall having an outwardly extending flange from the base thereof, the outer lateral dimensions of the peripheral rim portions exceeding the inner lateral dimensions of the corresponding groove outer wall portions for live sealing engagement therebetween, at least one of the container and cover members being formed of a locally deformable and resilient thermoplastic material including polyethylene.

2. A container and hermetically scalable and removable cover therefor, said container having a plurality of peripheral rim portions having at least one straight and one pair of adjacent and varyingly curved parts all tangentially continuous, said cover having a main top wall and a peripheral, raised and inverted groove having a geometrically similar shape to the container peripheral rim portions, said groove having inner, outer and top connecting walls, the outer wall having an outwardly extending flange from the base thereof, the outer lateral dimensions of the peripheral rim portions exceeding the inner lateral dimensions of the corresponding groove outer wall portions for live sealing engagement therebetween, at least one of the container and cover members being formed of locally deform-able and resilient thermoplastic material.

3. A container and hermetically scalable and removable cover therefor, said container including at least a pair of adjacent and curved peripheral rim portions of varying radii tangentially continuous, said cover having a main top wall and a peripheral, raised and inverted groove having a geometrically similar shape to the container peripheral rim portions, said groove having inner, outer and top connecting walls, the outer wall having a reinforcing thickened portion at the base and having finger engageable flared portion extending from said base, said thickened portion serving to prevent the said outer wall from folding upon divergence of the groove between the said inner and outer groove walls upon application of upward pressure on said flared portion, the outer lateral dimensions of the peripheral rim portions exceeding the inner lateral dimensions of the corresponding groove outer wall portions for live sealing engagement therebetween, at least one of the container and cover members being of a locally deformable and resilient thermoplastic material.

4. A container and hermetically scalable and removable cover therefor, said container including at least a pair of adjacent and curved peripheral rim portions of varying radii tangentially continuous, said cover having a main top wall and a peripheral, raised and inverted container groove having a geometrically similar shape to the container peripheral rim portions, said groove having inner, outer and top connecting walls, the inner groove Wall at the base thereof having a depending reinforcing peripheral extension to rigidity said main top wall, the groove outer wall having an outwardly flared flange from the base thereof, said groove outer wall having a reinforcing thickened portion at the point of connection with the said flared flange, the outer lateral dimensions of the peripheral rim portions exceeding the inner lateral dimensions of the corresponding groove outer wall portions for live sealing engagement therebetween, both the container and cover members at least at the rim and groove members being of a locally deformable and resilient thermoplastic material including polyethylene.

5. A container and hermetically scalable and removable cover therefor formed of locally deformable and resilient thermoplastic material including polyethylene, said container including at least a pair of curved and adjacent peripheral rim portions of various radii tangentially continuous, said cover having a main top wall and a peripheral skirt having a geometrically similar shape to the container peripheral rim portions, said skirt having an outwardly extending flange from the base thereof, the outer lateral dimensions of the peripheral rim portions exceeding the inner lateral dimensionse of the corresponding skirt for live sealing engagement therebetween.

No references cited. 

